The heroes and villains of June 12
By
"THE evil that men do, lives after them": How true. This is one aphorism that we have been confronted with every year since 1993, especially in the month of June as the entire nation remembers the momentous events of this particular month in our recent history. Even more so, how those events define certain personalities and the role that they have played in our collective history. Public memory when it is activated often relates to the past on purely emotional and moralistic basis. It is part of our nature as human beings to praise that which in our collective unconscious is adjudged good and to flagellate the opposite. It is this same moral imperative that is at the heart of religion, even science. As human beings we cannot yet find any alternative to this tool of public relationship. It reminds us that we are part of a community of men, and that there are standards of behaviour below which no person may descend. The opprobrium that accompanies a violation of social ethos is shared by the man in the grave and by his descendants. But history passes so quickly, present greed blinds men so easily, that we do not always remember that nothing is lost in nature, and that every act, every speech is an investment in the general pool of public emotions. It is the degree that varies... we are all invariably servants at the temple of public memory. This existential ritual is now being re-enacted in this country, every month of June. It is not merely a ritual; it is both anagnorisis and catharsis combined. It may be instructive for the rest of us seeking yet another indication of the moral at the soul of society, but it is a source of anguish for the persons involved if they are alive, or for their descendants who bear the burden, or the reward...
The month of June surely is very important to the MKO Abiola family. It was in the month of June 1993 that the lives of the Abiolas and the lives of their future children changed drastically when the patriarch of the family made the voluntary transition from being merely a public figure and multi-purpose billionaire to become a man of politics. And subsequently, a man of history. MKO Abiola was initially that other rich man with a lot of investments and goodwill. He had friends. He loved women and he built a large harem (50-something women?). Even as Abiola battled with the intrigues of Nigerian politics, he still remembered to take another wife, a young lady who probably never had a chance to enjoy him given the circumstances that followed. He had chieftaincy titles (about 150?) from every part of Nigeria. The Nigerian public had always loved these aspects of Abiola's colourful personality, his telling proverbs, his generousity in so many areas of public life, his earthiness, wit and candour. Even if he had not gone into politics, first with the NPN, and later the SDP, he would still have been remembered as an important Nigerian of the 20th century. But the exact point at which MKO Abiola's destiny became locked with that of his nation was on June 12, 1993 when he won a Presidential election that was widely adjudged to be free and fair. Abiola was probably optimistic that there would be no problems. His opponent was one Bashir Tofa who seems to have disappeared from the political horizon since then. Abiola's friend, Ibrahim Babangida was President and Commander-in-Chief. But on June 23, 1993, Abiola's friend had betrayed him. On the funny excuse that some faceless middle cadre soldiers did not want Abiola as President, the election was annulled. The rest of the story is fairly well-known. The entire Nigerian public rose against the treachery of the Nigerian military and the arrogance of Ibrahim Babangida. In due course, MKO Abiola became the symbol of the people's anger and the rallying point of their desire for democratic rule. We began to refer to him as the man "widely believed to have won the June 12 election", public faith being an essential component of the democratic process. Abiola may have made his mistakes; he may have been na•ve in his projections. He was too trusting, he had a lot of baggage in his personal life, but his personal limitations faded into the background as he took on the challenge of demanding for the people's mandate. In the end, he got detained. He became Abacha's personal prisoner. He died in custody.
Every year, he is remembered fondly by the public. The celebration may seem to be restricted to the South-West partly because Yoruba politicians have managed to ethnicise June 12 and Abiola's politics, but there can be no doubt that the average Nigerian considers Abiola the sacrificial lamb whose travails made the present democratic process possible and the complete routing of the Nigerian military inevitable. MKO Abiola is the hero of our collective struggles. The Obasanjo government has refused to recognise him, he is treated officially like a footnote and June 12 continues to be demonised in Abuja as just another date but the lesson for the public is in the morality of the tale. It is noteworthy that the Abiola family in the South-West, and in other parts of the country, is benefiting from the good name that MKO left behind. On June 12, that is three days ago, Abiola's children were invited to make speeches; they were interviewed in newspapers, rallies were held in at least five states in honour of the man and the date he symbolised. What is more: Abiola's children are being invited to go into politics, indeed, one of them is currently a member of the House of Representatives.
If Abiola reminds us of the virtues of sacrifice and the villainy of betrayal, another member of the Abiola family, the late Alhaja Kudirat Abiola reminds us of the greatness that loyalty can possibly bring. Every June 4, the pain of her assassination is re-enacted. She was a devoted wife who took on her husband's battle, and accepted his destiny as hers as well. She may have been an innocent woman but she was courageous enough to go out into the field of battle. Like her husband, she was betrayed by a close associate. Like her husband, she died. Every June, she deserves to be remembered as a special woman: the heroine and spirit of Kudirat Radio. For after all, long before Abiola died, many of his wives were already in the dirty hands of other men. It is four years after, a census in Abiola's harem would be a very enlightening exercise.
But that is perhaps a private matter. The urgent point to be made is that whereas MKO and Alhaja Kudirat represent some bright aspects of our recent history, the same is never said in the month of June about IBB and the late General Sani Abacha. Every June, IBB is asked to come forward and explain his role in the June 12 debacle, but the man has not been able to offer any explanation because really he has nothing to say. IBB was a victim of his own greed and ambition. If he had not annulled the June 12 election, he would have found a worthy place in the annals of Nigerian history. Today, he cannot walk freely in certain parts of the country. No child of his can go out on the streets of Lagos and announce his identity. The truth is that Babangida is held responsible for many of the woes of our lives. There are some persons who are willing to swear that Babangida is indeed a good man but they are significantly in the minority. I wouldn't know the kind of man that the fellow is in the privacy of his heart, but I suspect that he must be a very sad man indeed: to be so vilified, to be called a villain to one's face is quite a burden for any man to bear. Every year, IBB is advertised as a perfect example of how not to be a leader. Talks about his plans to return as Nigeria's president at some later date sound more like the announcement of the return of the Devil. One of these days, he would still have to answer a number of questions. He would have to serve penance at the court of history.
Sani Abacha, the one who died, has suffered a worse fate. His widow is in Kano, abandoned by friends and foes. His son is in detention. His family has had to cough out part of his loot. Every year, on the anniversary of his death in the month of June, the remembrance adverts keep reducing. This year, I counted only four. On June 8, a remembrance service was held in his house in Kano, but all the men who used to boast that they would die for Abacha were not there. The prayer lasted four hours, but the attendance was poor. Wada Nas, former Special Duties Minister to Abacha was there, but he spent the time appealing to the Nigerian people to sympathise with the Abacha family. He wants us to forgive them. But who wants to forgive the Abachas? What is there to forgive? The money that they stole? The innocent persons that they killed? The terror that they unleashed on Nigerians? The simple moral is that nobody wants to identify with that which has been abandoned by society. The only thing that lasts in the end is a good name. The Abacha name is bad news. Babangida is still alive, so he may have a larger retinue of supporters who depend on him, but it is all what we call "eye-service." How many of the persons who still go to Minna to visit IBB would be bold enough to stand out in public and announce that the man is their friend. I know that there are some shameless persons in our midst, who eat from all corners of their mouths, so maybe those ones.
But what does it matter, if every June, the morality of the story is re-enacted and the heroes are praised and the villains are identified? The melodrama ends and we all move on with our lives until the next June when we lament the significance of June 12 and the treachery of IBB and Abacha. Some may even ask: what of Ernest Shonekan? I believe that what is most painful is how badly we all never seem to learn from the examples of history. There are persons in our midst today who are worse than IBB and Abacha. They would tell you that there is no reason for anyone to die for anything because this country is not worth dying for. Their entire life interest is to take advantage of persons and of situations. There are Managing Directors who would not allow junior workers or anybody at all to enter the same elevator with them. There are managers who would sack you on the spot if you make the mistake of stepping on their toes. There are employers of labour who treat their staff like slaves. One Managing Director had retired from a company. He went back on a visit, barely a month after. He was humiliated at the gate by the security men. He had asked whether the men did not know him. They told him to his face that a new man was in charge and that they were following instructions! Abacha is said to be a thief; there are still many thieves in Abuja, in the corridors of power. Many of the persons who pushed Abiola to take on Abacha in his own den have since moved on with their own lives... they have reaped great benefits from their opportunism. How many women are ready to emulate Kudirat? Some day, their stories shall be told.
June 2003